In the Long Run

It all started when I and two other leaders of my Church women’s group were discussing simple refreshments for an upcoming activity.

“We could make carmel popcorn”, offered Marcie. “I have a really good recipe that’s soft and chewy.”

“Yeeees, I suppose that would be all right,” I slowly agreed, but at the same time wondering how I could diplomatically convince them to accept my suggestion. I had had a craving for Puppy Chow for several weeks, and dog-gone-it, I wanted to make some for this activity.

“Wait! How about Puppy Chow?!” I asked enthusiastically, as though I had just had a light-bulb moment. Marcie slightly frowned, and the other woman looked at me quizzically. “What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

I began a lengthy sales pitch on the snack’s delectability, simplicity, and wholesome goodness. I only convinced them that it was the right choice when I volunteered to make all of the Puppy Chow myself, which I’m sure they recognized was the best selling point of all.

The night before the activity, I pulled out two big pots to make a double batch of the recipe. I dumped chocolate chips in both pans, and began melting them. Then I realized I wasn’t quite sure of the amount of butter needed, so I turned the burners off (or so I thought) and went to my office to look for the recipe on the internet. A quick Google search returned over 600 recipes for Puppy Chow on one site alone. I decided to see which recipe was lowest in fat and calories, and soon was engrossed in methodically analyzing each one.

Our smoke alarm is very loud and very alarming. Even as I heard it, my brain didn’t register that the alarm had been triggered by something I had done. I rushed through a smoke-filled dining room into the kitchen about five steps behind my husband. He grabbed the smoking pot with flames shooting up a good two feet.

I cringed. “Oh no! I thought I turned the units off!” I apologized, shocked and sheepish, as my KL put out the fire. Well, I had turned one unit off…and the other one I had inadvertently turned to high. What could have been a costly mistake turned out to merely cause coughing, and we quickly opened doors and windows and turned on the kitchen fan to clear out the smoke and the smell.

My Key Limey graciously offered to run to the store to buy more chocolate chips, although he teased that it was conditional on my agreeing not to burn down the house while he was gone. Later that night I finished the poster for the display for the women’s activity. It was poetically appropriate that the print font I used was Dalmation, inspired by the stereotypical firehouse dog.

Posted by Cyppy at 2:50 PM